Chapter 3: Awakened

*Ada*

I opened my mouth to reply, but before I got the chance, I watched as he began to slump. Sitting up had been to exerting for him and he was going to pass out, just as I had predicted.

"Shit," I muttered to myself as I dove forward to catch him as he fell back to the ground.

With how skittish he was being I was further away than I would have liked. Yet, somehow I still made it to him in time to catch the majority of the fall and prevent any further damage.

I leaned my ear to his chest and could hear how rapid his heart rate was. It seemed to skip as soon as my head layed down on him. The longer he lay unconscious, the more his breathing and his heart calmed down. His heart was still beating strong and hard, but I took that as a good thing.

……

The sun began to rise and the rays of light broke through the small ceiling that once worked as a greenhouse cover. One of the rays happened to sparkle off of a small badge pinned to the man's shirt. I leaned in closer, curious to get a better look.

Up close there was no doubt that it was the Grandmoon Crest. I reached forward and traced my fingers over the edges, feeling the cold of the real metal beneath them. It was a real badge, not fake.

Yet I didn't know the badge symbols well enough to know exactly what it meant, what position he held. I had only seen a couple of them before in my lifetime, but they weren't hard to recognize, but interpret? Now that's a different story.

The warnings from my parents rang in my head again and I looked up at the man's handsome face once more. Even in sleep, there was something strong and…reassuring about it. My hand was halfway to his cheek before I caught myself and dropped it back to the badge, along with my gaze.

What was going on with me lately? First the nightmare and now this weird pull to a man from the Grandmoon Pack. My parents would strangle me if they knew.

I continued to trace the edges of the badge, looking at the semblance of the moon and letting my mind wander. In all my years of healing and growing herbs there was only one herb that I was missing.

And it just so happened to be planted in the Grandmoon Pack gardens. I knew this because I had planted it there myself in order to research the medicinal properties it carried. However, I didn't have it here.

I hesitated in the direction my thoughts were going. It was bad enough that I was saving this unknown man that was possibly attacking me, but to go to the Grandmoon Pack to find medicine for him? That was above the call of duty, even for me.

And that's what I kept telling myself over the following two days as I continued to care for him. Yet I couldn't help but notice that even my normal remedies and potions were having little to no effect on him. And with my herb garden being mostly burnt up I was running very short on supplies the longer we went.

The Whisperbloom poison was no joke, and even my skills couldn't make up for the lack of ingredients.

At the end of the second day I realized that I would have to do something. Otherwise, he might never recover. While I had been able to siphon water into him, he wasn't getting any nourishment, and there was only so long he could survive without it.

As soon as the sun set, I set off to my father's place. He had a large stash of precious medicines that I had already made and bottled for emergencies. As with the bunker, he liked to be prepared. But I couldn't risk him asking me questions about my need for the medicines, so I would have to be sneaky.

Lucky for me, I knew that he wasn't leaving my mother's side until she was completely healed. In between trying to heal the man I had been checking on my mother and father and the rest of the members that had been hurt in the attack.

My mother was the only one that still carried any form of injury. The wolf inside allowed us, or should I say them, to heal quickly, even without the use of medicines in most cases, so all had healed except the most serious, which happened to be my mother and my man.

Wait, what?? No. Not my man. The man. The man I was healing.

Ugh.

I had checked on my mother earlier and she was looking great, almost healed, but my father still refused to leave her side. This gave me the perfect opportunity to sneak into his stash, because I knew exactly where he would be.

As silent as possible, to not alert the wolf ears in the house, I entered the room and grabbed the few bottles I needed, making sure not to let the glass clink off of each other. Then, just as silent, and equally as fast I slipped from the room.

Once out of the room I leisurely walked back to the shed, not wanting to draw attention to myself by rushing. If one of the wolves running patrol saw me, they wouldn't think anything of it; I often liked to take nighttime strolls.

Though I didn't have to worry, because I encountered nobody on my way back. A smile spread across my face as I walked into the small shed. Everything had gone perfectly.

My smile dropped.

Well, almost everything…As soon as I looked down I realized that something was wrong: the man was gone.

I froze, trying to process what had happened. Had he suddenly gotten better and simply left? Part of me hoped that he had, so that way this weird scenario would finally be over. The other part of me knew how unlikely that was though. My medicines hadn't been working. Or at least, didn't appear as if they were working.

So then worry crept in, and my heart began to race as the possible scenarios ran through my mind. What if one of the men had found him and dragged him off? I knew I shouldn't care, but for some reason I did. Should I go look for him?

Right as I made the decision to search for him, a hand suddenly grabbed my throat from behind. I gasped and tried to pull away, but the grip tightened, causing me to cough slightly.

"Who are you?" A deep voice asked from behind me, making me freeze.

Something about his voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. His voice sounded a little shaky, and I didn't recognize it.

"What did you do to me?" the voice demanded, pressing closer to me and steadying the trembling fingers on my neck.

Irritation spiked through me as his words confirmed that he must carry no information from the previous time he woke up. It had been a lot of trauma, he was sure to have blocked it out.

But now he had his hand on my throat. I needed to answer quickly.

"I'm the woman who's been healing you," I coughed out. "Good to see you know how to be grateful."

At the sound of my voice his hand loosened, as I finished speaking he released my neck all together.

I whirled around so that I could face him and let my hand drift down to where I knew my trusty knife was. He wouldn't get the jump on me again.

He didn't seem to want to attack though.

I could barely see him with the low glow of the moonlight coming through the ceiling, but he wasn't looking at me, he was looking down at himself. My free hand came up to my throat, rubbing the spot where his fingers had squeezed me.

He hadn't hurt me, just used the position to be in control, but I didn't like the feeling of knowing how easy it was for him to overpower me.

"You did this?" he asked, gesturing to the bandages covering his chest.

"Yes," I answered, trying to avoid looking at his body, which looked much more impressive in motion. Not that it hadn't looked good laying down as well…

"I'm going to…" he began, and then staggered on his feet a little. "I'm still going to need your help. I don't feel so great."

Wow. Why was I helping this guy again? Not even a thank you? Not even a please? Just expects me to help him.

I crossed my arms over my chest.

"I'm afraid there is no helping you," I said, exaggerating slightly in my irritation. "I've already been trying for two days and this is the best I have gotten. You are terminally ill. The poison has entered your organs, and only the Moon Goddess can save you now."

"Wha-Poison? WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" he yelled. He tried to step towards me, but wobbled again, forcing him to stop.

"What makes you think it was me?" I asked? "You are the one who attacked me! I didn't have to save you, you know. And quit yelling or you'll get us both caught!"

He looked up at me then and our eyes finally met, causing my breath to falter for only a second.

There was something about those eyes…like his face, there was something just so familiar about them.

"What? No. I didn't, I--" he started to argue.

"And hate to tell you, but based on your symptoms and your condition, the poison has been in your body for at least five years," I told him. "It looks like someone other than me doesn't like you, and hasn't for a long time."

The man was silent.

I watched as he processed what I had told him. Guilt for my bluntness washed over me as I watched him evaluate what my words meant and thought about what they meant. He swayed on his feet and I wasn't sure if it was from weakness, or from shock at my news. Pity joined guilt as I realized that someone close to him had betrayed him.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay," I said, calming down. "Hey, maybe it was an accident…"

"Is that possible?" His voice was practically a whisper now.

"Honestly, no, not really," I admitted. "This poisonous herb looks a lot like grass, and after ingesting it your bones would have been in pain. I honestly don't see how you could have been poisoned and not realized it."

"Bones in pain?" he asked, but instead of sounding worried he sounded relieved. "That's not poison, that's just the disease I had."

I stared at the man in front of me in disbelief.